Local athletes advance at USA Track & Field Championships

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Nicole Bush, left, runs out of the water pit during her heat in the senior women's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Championships athletics meet on Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Treasure Valley natives Nick Symmonds and Hillary Holt both advanced in preliminary events at the USA Track and Field Championships Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Symmonds, a Bishop Kelly High School graduate, cruised to victory in his first-round heat of the 800-meters. The five-time defending US champion and two-time Olympian advances to Friday's semifinal race with the seventh-overall fastest time of 1:47.10.

Mountain View High and College of Idaho runner Holt took sixth in the second of two 1,500-meter heats, automatically advancing to Saturday's 12-person final. She had the tenth-fastest time overall at 4:14.89.

Boise State runner Jordin Andrade competed in the 400-meter hurdles, but finished last in his heat with a time of 52.31 - over two seconds slower than his season-best time of 50.11. Still, Andrade narrowly missed qualifying for the semifinals, .48 seconds behind the final qualifier.

Symmonds will run in the 800-meter semifinals Friday at 7:25 MST. Holt's 1,500-meter final starts at 3:46 p.m. MST on Saturday.

Another Bishop Kelly graduate, Corbin Duer starts competition in the decathlon on Friday morning. Live video is available free (prior to the start of the television broadcasts) at usatf.tv.